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October 21, 2008

I wanted to pick something that we haven't yet done (they did muffins in January before I joined the group) and something seasonal (at least seasonal in the mid-western United States, where I live).

My short list of choices included the cardamom crumbcake, salt & pepper shortbread, rice pudding, All in one holiday bundt cake, cocoa almond meringues, sweet potato biscuits and coffee-break muffins. Ultimately, though, I decided to go with the pumpkin muffins. I liked Dorie's description at the beginning. I also thought this recipe would allow for many substitutions or alterations.

Several of the TWD'ers used dried cranberries instead of raisins or different kinds of nuts. Many people added chocolate chips with rave reviews. Joanna spiked hers with bourbon (my kind of girl!). Leslie suggested adding candied ginger (brilliant!). I made mine as Dorie's recipe said, but added chocolate chips after reading the suggestions!

Most everyone seems to like these muffins, even those who admitted to not liking pumpkin previously. I, for one, thought they were fabulous!

Pumpkin Muffins

The best pumpkin muffins in New York are made by Sarabeth Levine, the mistress of Sarabeth's jams and the founder of Sarabeth's restaurants. Her muffins are big and spicy, packed with raisins and topped with sunflower seeds. They're so good they out to be the standard for all pumpkin muffins in the world. Like the originals, these are a beautiful orange-gold color and have a moist and tender cakey crumb, a gentle spiciness and the hallmark sprinkling of sunflower seeds across their crowns. They are good minutes out of the oven, at room temperature or split and toasted. And while they're luscious on their own, they're even better with a little butter and a lot of orange marmalade or apricot jam.

Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Butter or spray 12 cupcake molds in a regular-size pan or fit with paper cups. Place the pan on a baking sheet.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Set aside.

Working with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the butter at medium speed until soft. Add both the sugars and continue to beat until light and smooth.

One by one, add the eggs, beating for a minute after they are incorporated, then beat in the vanilla.

Lower the mixer speed and mix in the pumpkin and buttermilk. Add the dry ingredients in a steady stream, mixing only until they disappear. To avoid overmixing, you can stop the machine early and stir in any remaining dry ingredients into the batter using a rubber spatula.

Stir in the raisins and nuts. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle a few sunflower seeds over the top of each muffin.

Bake for about 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Kelly's note: A lot of the TWD folks found that 25 minutes was too long, taking theirs out around 17 minutes.

Transfer the pan to a rack and cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the pan, then carefully remove each one from its mold to finish cooling on the rack.

46 comments:

Thanks so much for choosing this delicious recipe Kelly! Todd and I both loved them. I did as you did and kept to the basic recipe. I did toy with the idea of adding things or making a few taste changes, like the candied ginger, but then thought to myself . . . why mess with perfection!

These sound delish! I think topping them with toasted pumpkin seeds would be an awesome way to finish them off, as well.

Have you taken any of the community classes out at L'Ecole Culinaire? I worked there when they first opened, and they used to have amazing one-course classes with their faculty and guest chefs from the STL...

You know, with all the TWD bloggers, it's really hard to get around to reading too many. But I just spent a good 20 minutes reading your blog, and it's going to be a new staple for me. Great writing, great personal stories. Thanks.

Thanks for picking the pumpkin muffins! Great for October. I did bake Dorie's coffee muffins when I first borrowed the book from the library. They came out wonderful as well, although I do suggest good quality coffee.

Thank you thank you for choosing this recipe. I would NEVER have made this on my own, it did not sound appealing to me at all. But that's what I like about this club, it gets you to come out of your box and step away from your comfort zone. I LOVED these muffins. I am not a pumpkin fan, but these were just delicious. I did substitute milk chocolate chips for the nuts and I didn't use the sunflower seeds, instead I dotted the top with a few chocolate chips, on the other half of the batch I drizzled some melted chocolate. Yum yum yum!

Thanks for picking muffins. They are so easy, and so tasty, and so easy to eat. Mine didn't turn out too well, but I think it was due to old spices. Yours look good. Glad they were yummy!! I am going to try again.

Kelly, made mine Saturday morning and they are gone...of course. They are Dorie originals, with a few twists and turns. Hope you enjoy yours too. Thanks so much for choosing the Pumpkin Muffins at this time of year.AmyRuth

Kelly, thanks for picking these muffins! Even though mine turned out a little funky, I love all things pumpkin and can't wait to give these another go. All the nuts and fruit inside were so yummy, and of course chocolate chips could only be a good thing.